Blue
States: First
Steps Into… (Memphis Industries)
Riding the fine line between rock and electronic, Blue States return with
another unassuming charmer that will hopefully help them find additional
listeners not just in the States but all over the world. “Allies”
starts off with a barely discernable vocal sample over a royal flush of
instruments and introduces us to First Steps’ sound. For
a while, the former rock trio (now it’s just founder Andy Dragazis)
would blend lyrics and electronic sounds together, but now they’ve
settled in for a mostly instrumental wave of sound that suits them just
fine. Perhaps they were fed up with having to come up with lyrics to brilliant
songs (such as “The Last Blast” off of their last album The
Soundings) only to have so few people hear them.
The
band has been building a more cinematic sound with its their past couple
of releases—literally, if you include their work for the 28
Days Later soundtrack—and this album sounds like the soundtrack
to the best fuckin’ movie we’re never going to see. “The
Electric Compliment” sounds like a long-lost Ennio Morricone track
in which the music would work great with an image but would work equally
well on its own. The full sound has Dragazis working overtime to make
his music interesting without the use of lyrics to fill in the gaps. The
overall effect is sharp, but might not appeal to skittish listeners who
lack patience.
From top to bottom, the album is warm and enjoyable and varied enough in sound to keep you waiting to hear what’s next. In some sense, the album recalls how Slowdive’s use of sound reworked what a rock band could consists of. The fact that it’s just one dude who did this is quite remarkable.
By
Nick Hyman
7/2007